A room on the day you land, not the week after.
Accommodation is the part of the move nobody plans until the ticket is booked. Rooms near campus go months ahead, a lease signed from Kathmandu is the easiest way to lose money, and the first fortnight after landing is where most of that money disappears.
Four ways to live, and who each one actually suits
There is no best option, only the one that fits your budget, your campus and how much you want handled for you. What follows is how each one behaves in practice, not how it looks on a website.
Purpose built student accommodation
PBSA, THE STUDENT TOWERSPrivate buildings made only for students, usually a short walk from campus. You book online from Nepal, the contract is with a company rather than an individual, and everything is furnished from the first night.
- Safest thing to book before you fly. Real company, real contract, refund policy in writing
- Bills, internet, furniture and a study desk are usually inside the rent
- Studio, or a room in a shared apartment. The price gap between the two is large
- Study spaces, gym and a front desk that knows what a confirmation of enrolment is
The trade off is money. It is the most expensive way to live, and the contract usually runs a fixed 44 or 51 weeks whether you stay or not.
Homestay
A ROOM WITH AN AUSTRALIAN FAMILYYou live with a screened host family, usually with meals included. Arranged through the university or an approved provider, so somebody has checked the house and the people in it before you arrive.
- The softest landing available, and the reason we recommend it for students under 20
- Most meals, bills and laundry included, so your weekly cost is a single number
- Daily English practice, and someone who can explain a bus timetable or a Medicare form
- Usually booked for four to twelve weeks, then you move on once you know the city
The trade off is independence. It is somebody's home, with house rules, and it may be a forty minute commute from campus.
Share house and private rental
THE CHEAPEST, AND THE RISKIESTA room in a house shared with other students, or a whole flat leased with friends. This is where most Nepali students end up by the second semester, and it is where almost every accommodation problem we fix begins.
- Clearly the lowest weekly cost, and the most control over who you live with
- Bills are usually on top: electricity, gas and internet split between housemates
- A lease is a legal document. Whoever signs it carries the debt if a housemate leaves
- Furniture is rarely included, so budget for a bed and a desk in week one
Never inspect by video call and transfer a bond to a personal account. That is the single most common way students from Nepal are defrauded before they land.
University residence and colleges
ON CAMPUS, RUN BY THE UNIVERSITYHalls and residential colleges owned by the institution itself. Places are limited, applications open early, and postgraduate and first year students are usually prioritised differently.
- You live on campus, so the commute and the transport cost disappear entirely
- Catered options exist where meals are part of the fee, which suits a first year well
- Academic support, orientation and a built in social group from the first week
- Apply as soon as you accept your offer. Places close long before semester starts
The trade off is availability. Demand exceeds supply at most institutions, so this is a first choice with a second choice already lined up behind it.
Nepcoms does not own, lease or take commission on any property. We help you compare, verify and book, and we tell you when a listing looks wrong. Your rent is paid to the provider, never to us.
What the weekly rent does and does not include
Australian rent is quoted per week, which makes everything look cheaper than it is. Multiply by 52, divide by 12, and then add the things below that are not in the advertised number.
Usually inside the rent
DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON THE OPTION- Furniture and a bed, in student accommodation, homestay and university residence, but rarely in a private rental
- Electricity, gas and water, in most student accommodation and every homestay
- Internet, in almost all purpose built accommodation, sometimes capped
- Meals, in homestay and in catered university residences only
- Cleaning of common areas, in managed buildings. Your own room is yours
Almost never inside the rent
BUDGET FOR THESE SEPARATELY- The bond. Commonly four weeks of rent, held in a government scheme, returned at the end if nothing is damaged
- Rent in advance. Usually two weeks, paid at the same time as the bond, so day one costs about six weeks of rent
- Contents insurance. Your laptop and phone are not covered by the landlord's policy
- Transport. A cheap room forty minutes out costs more than a dearer room you can walk from, once you add the fares
- Groceries. Outside homestay and catered residences, plan a realistic weekly food budget from the first week
Rent is a large part of the living cost figure the department expects you to evidence. We build your accommodation plan and your funds evidence from the same numbers, so the two do not contradict each other in your application.
The four options side by side
Indicative weekly ranges across Australian cities. Sydney and Melbourne sit at the top of every range, and regional cities sit well below the bottom of it.
| Option | Typical weekly cost | Best for | Where people slip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose built student accommodation | A$300 to A$650 | Anyone booking from Nepal for the first semester | Booking a studio when a shared apartment in the same building costs far less |
| Homestay | A$330 to A$470 | Students under 20, and anyone landing alone for the first time | Booking indefinitely rather than for a set eight or twelve weeks |
| Share house or private rental | A$200 to A$450 | Second semester onward, once you know the suburbs | Paying a bond by transfer for a house nobody has physically seen |
| University residence or college | A$400 to A$800 | First year students who want meals and support included | Applying after the offer is accepted, by which time places are gone |
| Temporary, first two weeks | A$40 to A$120 per night | Everybody. This is the bridge while you inspect properly | Skipping it, and signing a twelve month lease in the first 48 hours |
Purpose built student accommodation
- TYPICAL WEEKLY COST
- A$300 to A$650
- BEST FOR
- Anyone booking from Nepal for the first semester
- WHERE PEOPLE SLIP
- Booking a studio when a shared apartment in the same building costs far less
Homestay
- TYPICAL WEEKLY COST
- A$330 to A$470, meals usually included
- BEST FOR
- Students under 20, and anyone landing alone for the first time
- WHERE PEOPLE SLIP
- Booking indefinitely rather than for a set eight or twelve weeks
Share house or private rental
- TYPICAL WEEKLY COST
- A$200 to A$450, plus bills
- BEST FOR
- Second semester onward, once you know the suburbs
- WHERE PEOPLE SLIP
- Paying a bond by transfer for a house nobody has physically seen
University residence or college
- TYPICAL WEEKLY COST
- A$400 to A$800, catered options at the top
- BEST FOR
- First year students who want meals and support included
- WHERE PEOPLE SLIP
- Applying after the offer is accepted, by which time places are gone
Temporary, first two weeks
- TYPICAL COST
- A$40 to A$120 per night
- BEST FOR
- Everybody. This is the bridge while you inspect properly
- WHERE PEOPLE SLIP
- Skipping it, and signing a twelve month lease in the first 48 hours
Indicative ranges reviewed 9 September 2026. Sydney and Melbourne sit at the top of every range. Ask us for current pricing in your actual city.
The first fortnight decides the next twelve months
Students who land with two weeks booked and nothing else committed almost always end up paying less than students who locked in a year from Kathmandu. Jet lag, a strange city and a landlord in a hurry is not the state to sign a legal document in.
- Arrive into something short and certain. Two weeks of student accommodation, homestay or a booked room, so you are never negotiating from a suitcase
- Walk the suburb before you like the photos. Check the actual walk to campus, the last bus home, and what is open at night
- Inspect in person, always. If you cannot attend, send someone you know. Our Australia team attends inspections for students who have nobody else
- Read who is on the lease. A joint lease means you can be chased for a housemate's unpaid rent after they move out
- Bond goes to the government scheme, not to a person. Every state lodges bonds centrally and gives you a receipt. No receipt, no payment
- Get the condition report photographed on day one, room by room. It is the whole of your evidence when the bond comes back
If a listing asks for money before an inspection, offers a price well below the suburb, or refuses a video walkthrough with a face on camera, send it to us before you send anything to them.
How we handle accommodation, and where it goes wrong
Six points between your offer letter and your second lease. Under each one is the failure we have watched happen, which is why it is a step rather than an afterthought.
Budget set with the offer, not after it
Once the course and campus are fixed, we put a realistic weekly rent against your city and check it against the funds you are evidencing for the visa.
Where it goes wrong: a budget built on a national average, applied to inner Sydney, and a student who runs short in month three.Options shortlisted by campus, not by advert
Three or four real options near your actual campus, with the commute, the total weekly cost and the contract length beside each one.
Where it goes wrong: a beautiful building on the other side of the city, and forty dollars a week of transport nobody counted.The first two weeks booked before you fly
Short, refundable, and confirmed in writing with an address you can put on a form. This is the only thing we insist on.
Where it goes wrong: landing with a friend's floor as the plan, then signing the first lease offered on day two.Provider and listing verified
We check that the company exists, that the contract is in your name, and that the payment goes to a business account rather than an individual.
Where it goes wrong: a bond transferred from Nepal to a personal account for a room that was never available. It is almost never recoverable.Inspection and lease read in Australia
Our Australia team attends or arranges the inspection, reads the lease with you, and photographs the condition report before you move a bag in.
Where it goes wrong: signing a joint lease with people you met that week, then carrying their rent when they leave.The second move, once you know the city
Most students move once, around the end of the first semester. We help you leave properly: notice given correctly, bond claimed back, condition report used.
Where it goes wrong: walking out mid lease, losing the whole bond, and starting the next tenancy with no rental history.
Planned in Nepal before you fly, checked in Australia after you land. Find your nearest Nepcoms branch.
Somebody on the ground is the whole difference
Any agent can send you a link to a student accommodation website. Almost none of them can send a person to an inspection in Melbourne on a Saturday morning, or read a lease with you before you sign it. That is the part that saves money, and it only works with a team in both countries.
Before you fly
NepalBudget set against your real city, options shortlisted by campus, the first two weeks booked and confirmed, and every provider verified before a rupee moves.
After you land
AustraliaAirport to accommodation sorted, inspections attended, leases read, bond lodgement checked, and the second move handled when you are ready for it.
The practical difference: when a listing looks wrong at eleven at night in Kathmandu, somebody in Australia can look at the address in the morning.
Where accommodation fits in the bigger picture
Where you live is one line in a much longer file. These are the pages it usually sits beside.
Study in Australia
COURSE, OFFER, ENROLMENTThe campus decides the suburb, and the suburb decides your rent. Accommodation planning starts here.
Study in AustraliaVisa application assistance
FUNDS AND LIVING COSTSYour accommodation budget and your funds evidence have to tell the same story in the application.
Visa application assistanceOSHC and OVHC health cover
THE OTHER ARRIVAL ESSENTIALArranged in the same fortnight as your room, and just as easy to leave with a gap in it.
Health coverScholarship guidance
WHAT RENT IS PAID FROMA scholarship changes the accommodation budget more than any other single factor.
Scholarship guidanceCareer and course counselling
CITY, CAMPUS, COST OF LIVINGRegional campuses cost far less to live in, and carry their own migration advantages.
Career counsellingNot sure where to start
BRING YOUR OFFER LETTERFifteen minutes with the campus and your budget settles which of the four options is yours.
Book a consultationCommon questions
How early should I book accommodation?
Should I sign a twelve month lease before I arrive?
How much money do I need on the first day?
How do I avoid an accommodation scam?
Can Nepcoms find accommodation for my partner and children too?
What happens if my accommodation goes wrong after I arrive?
Tell us your campus and we will tell you where to live
- A realistic weekly budget for your actual city, not a national average
- Three or four verified options within reach of your campus
- The first two weeks booked before you fly, in writing
- Any listing you have found checked before you pay anything
- Inspection support in Australia, and a second pair of eyes on the lease
Free, and useful whether or not you applied through us. We take no commission on your rent.
Start your accommodation plan
We reply within one working day.
Land with a key in your hand and a plan for month two.
Bring your offer letter and your budget. We will tell you in fifteen minutes which of the four options fits, what your first day actually costs, and what to book before you fly.
Rents, bond rules and tenancy law differ by state and change over time. Ranges on this page were last reviewed 9 September 2026 against published provider and university rates and are indicative planning figures, not quotes. Nepcoms does not own or lease property, does not act as a real estate agent, and takes no commission on your rent; your tenancy agreement is between you and the provider, and your own lease always governs.